Daily Edition

Bruce Willis to Star in Chinese-Language WWII Epic 'The Bombing'

He will feature alongside Asian stars Song Seung-heon, Nicholas Tse and Liu Ye.

Bruce Willis will star in a $56 million 3D Chinese-language war epic, The Bombing, about Japan's aerial bombardment of the southwestern city of Chongqing in World War II.

The film is due to be released early next year.

Directed by Xiao Feng, the film started shooting last month and the Die Hard star has already shot key scenes in Xiangshan in China's Zhejiang province, according to Xiao's Sina Weibo microblog.

The Bombing will feature a host of big-name Asian stars, including South Korea's Song Seung-heon, Hong Kong actors Nicholas Tse and William Chen, and Chinese actor Liu Ye.

On his website, Xiao said that the budget for the movie was $56.47 million (350 million yuan). The timing of the film's release will coincide with events to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

Willis, who plays a flying instructor in the movie, is a popular figure in China. He starred in Looper, which was co-produced by Chinese-American production company DMG.

Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody featured in Feng Xiaogang's 2012 historical epic Back to 1942, and Brody featured alongside John Cusack in Jackie Chan's epic Dragon Blade this year. Christian Bale starred in Zhang Yimou's war movie The Flowers of War in 2011, and Nicolas Cage appeared in Outcast.

The film is backed by China Film Group and is Xiao's second war movie after Hushed Roar in 2012.